The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

21.1. Play to win

The woman is back.

"Who are you?" I ask her.

"You know who I am," she says, her chin sticking out, defiant. "And you know why I'm here. Now, give it to me." She's calm, confident. She knows what's going to happen. She walks forward with her hand out, like she wants to shake my hand or give me something.

I reach towards her.

She slides into me, takes over. I'm going to show you something.

This is what I see:

The girl is sleeping. Right beside a man, they're cuddled up together. Her on her stomach, naked, with her head on his naked chest. Her young flesh pressed up against his old flesh. His mouth is gaping open and he's snoring.

There are flies buzzing around his face and the top of her head. There are flies buzzing around some food left by the fire.

I look down at them and wonder — it's the middle of the day — why are they sleeping? The air is dry and hot, oppressively hot. I suddenly feel my clothing is clinging to me.

I study her face — her wide cheeks, and pointed chin, her curly dark brown hair. Her eyes begin to dart back and forth. She's entering REM cycle and starting to dream.

I close my eyes and reach out to her, and enter her dream state.

She immediately becomes aware of me, opening her eyes and staring at me. She's powerful. I can feel her ability to control the dream now that she's aware.

Her head is still pressed to the man's chest, but the man is disappearing. His dream form is disintegrating. He becomes a shadow. She looks like she's hugging a shadow on the ground.

I suddenly realise I've awoken.

My eyes are closed but I can see. This is the first time this has happened to me.

And the billionth.

Untold parts of me are experiencing this dream. The parts of me that know, and the parts of me that don't

She sees me watching her in the cave, but says nothing. Her eyes are wide with anxiety.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, my hand on my hip, accusing her, really.

She sits up, silent, dumbfounded, unable to talk, apparently.

"What's happened to you?" I ask her.

The shadow disappears and she is sitting cross-legged on the ground, still naked, looking up at me. Her long black hair, covers most of her body.

"Please, let's talk. Come with me," I tell her.

She stands up. There is sadness on her face, and shame. She hides her body by stooping and dangling her hair in front of her.

I reach out for her hand and she smiles weakly at me and takes it.

"Shalon," she whispers. "You're here."

Holding hands, I walk out of the cave and into a beautiful meadow. The cave disappears behind us. There are mountains in the distance, and we're in an area of rolling hills covered in grasses and shrubs and clusters of trees.

Her face lights up, and she breaths deeply, "Where are we?" she asks. "This is beautiful."

"This is the Crows Nest Valley. How it used to be, as a child before World War Three. It's one of my favourite places in the world. This is what the Great Bear Desert used to look like."